Pigment print

63.9 × 76.9 cm

Photography by Elke Hartmann

Produced by Galápagos Conservation Trust and Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation Galápagos Artists’ Residency Programme

The Galápagos giant tortoise, icon for the Galápagos and for the global conservation movement, is one of the rarest animals in the world. In a bid to compete with their exotic appeal, Coates purchased the most glamorous outfit he could find on the island and supplanted himself in the tortoise’s breeding enclosure to be photographed by the tourists alongside them.